NeonHorizon: A holiday short story featuring Dabi. Full disclosure; this was a fun challenge because none of my previous OCs like Dabi. This girl is special. This is a short, one chapter story, but if enough people enjoy it then I might make it a full fanfic series. So if you like it, leave a review and let me know what you think! Happy holidays! Update: This is now a fanfic series!

You don't look so good. What happened? The snow crunched beneath her boots as she neared the figure in the alley. The motionless figure that sat slumped against the wall with a pool of darkness beneath them. The snow around them seemed to have melted, but when she got closer she realized that it was due to blood.

The figure was that of a young man around her age. His head was bowed, eyes closed. His breathing came slowly, labored, and his exhales appeared as bursts of steam in the cold night air. The clothes he wore were far from suited for the winter evening, made even more evident when she realized he was shivering.

The front of his white shirt was dotted with crimson around the neck and bore larger splotches around his ribs on one side, a few cuts bleeding through here and there. Blood ran from his lips, still dripping in a soft tap upon his shirt. There was a deep gash just below his collar bone that caught and held her gaze.

Crouching down, she looked at the man's features more closely. He was unlike anyone she had ever seen before. People varied vastly in appearance, as she realized, but he was particularly strange-looking. There were dark purplish patches of skin as well as the pale peach sort of tone of most of his skin. The dark patches seemed to be connected to the other skin by staples of some sort. Almost like a strange form of body modification.

Seeing the piercings on the right side of his nose and in his ears, she was sure it must be some kind of body modification. He's…kind of cool-looking. She shook her head and frowned. Chewing at her lower lip, she glanced off down the alley. No one was out at this time of night. She knew she looked pretty sketchy already, but what she was about to do was even sketchier.

I can't leave him out here. He's still alive, but he's going to bleed out or freeze if I leave him. She carefully moved him a little and heard a soft grunt of pain. Gritting her teeth, she finished moving him so that he was lying on his back on the ground.

She was not nearly as strong as a hero or even a police officer, but she was above average when it came to strength. After all, she worked as a kindergarten teacher. She was always having to carry children around or move things in the classroom. Sometimes she had to carry many children at once.

Wrapping her arms around the young man, beneath his arms, she lifted him a little. With a few quick twists, she had maneuvered his unconscious body onto her back and began to shakily proceed down the alley. His blood was soaking into her sweater and shirt through her coat, but she did her best to ignore it.

He was at least a foot taller than her and the toes of his boots dragged through the snow behind her, but the young woman persisted until she got him into her apartment. It was quite a walk. Her limbs ached and she was shaking by the time she got him there, but she was satisfied that she had at least prevented him from freezing to death on Christmas night.

Now there was a new problem. He was sprawled on the floor, on his back, still bleeding profusely. The pale peachy parts of his skin were starting to look more pale than peachy at this point and his skin was cold to the touch. He was still breathing, though.

Rolling up her sleeves, she knelt beside him on the floor and lifted his head and shoulders up so they could rest on her thighs. Okay. I can do this. It can't be that bad, right? Besides; he's unconscious. I can at least take care of things myself. It won't be that bad. Just…grit your teeth and get it over with!

Shift P.O.V

The air had been icy when he felt sleep taking hold, but now he was pleasantly warm. He opened his eyes slowly and found himself staring up at a white ceiling. Dabi wiped at his mouth when he tasted metal and his hand came away with flakes of dried blood on it.

This was around the time that he felt the soft heat against the back of his head and neck. He pushed himself up, disregarding his injuries for a moment, and turned to see what that heat was. His eyes widened a bit when he saw her.

A girl around his age, lying sprawled on her back with her legs tucked beneath her. Blood soaking through her sweater and leaking from the corner of her mouth. Eyes closed. Her body bearing wounds identical to his. Dabi raised an eyebrow and suddenly became aware of the fact that his own injuries seemed to be painless.

He lifted his shirt and saw that there was dried blood, but the cuts had sealed up. Where he had been almost mortally wounded, he now bore scars. Dabi rubbed his head and looked down at her again.

She was pretty thin. Everything about her was rather pale. Fair skin, long white hair that was matted with blood in some spots. The sweater she wore was white as well and the jeans she was wearing were rather pale. He was sure that, beneath the blood, her lips were probably a pale pink.

"Hey. Get up."

There was no answer. The girl lay motionless. Not even a twitch or flutter of her eyelids. He crept closer and stared down at her. He was more curious than angry. He wanted to know what sort of quirk she had since it seemed like she had transferred all of his wounds to her own body. He wanted to know why she helped him and what she expected to get out of this.

Dabi looked from her to the rest of the room. It seemed to be a modest little apartment. Small kitchen. Small area with a dark blue couch, a television, and a few stacks of books. There were two doors against one wall that were most likely her bedroom and her bathroom.

Since he had no desire to go back out into the snow, he decided to just sit there and bask in the warmth for a while. It was during this little rest that he heard the squeaking of a wheel and turned his attention to the sitting area again. He had overlooked it before, but she had a cage near the television. A cage that held two white rats with bright red eyes. One was running on the little wheel in the cage and the other seemed to be burrowing in the stuff on the floor of the cage.

Rats? That's seriously weird. Dabi pushed himself to stand and had to smirk. He still felt a little weak from the blood loss, but the pain was gone at least. He crossed the room in just a few steps and leaned down to tap a finger against the bars of the cage. "Hey, guys."

Remembering how deep his injuries had been, Dabi turned to look at the girl bleeding on the floor. It was rare that he came across someone who could really hurt him, but he had been ambushed by a handful of people while he was burning a few low life idiots to ashes. The cold did not help matters.

In the end, he had won the fight. The pathetic creeps that attacked him were reduced to cinders and he made it out alive. His strength was failing him, though. Dabi had been looking for an abandoned building to shelter in when he fell against the alley wall and began to black out.

Crouching down next to the girl, he raised an eyebrow. She's…kind of cute. Too bad. She's probably gonna die. His gaze slid down her body to her abdomen, which was gushing blood from the deep cut on her ribs and the various other little lacerations.

He reached down to push some pale hair away from her face and felt the faint warmth radiating from her cheek. Dabi tilted his head and leaned down closer, his eyes narrowing as he studied her features. There were a multitude of light scars that riddled her skin. As if from minor scrapes that occurred over and over again.

The girl's snow-pale eyelashes fluttered open and a pair of lilac eyes stared up at him through a haze of pain and fatigue. Their faces were a mere six inches apart and what blood she had left rushed to her cheeks. Her red-smeared lips twitched into a slight grin. She looked oddly relieved to see him.

"Awesome. You're…feeling better?" Her voice was smooth, warm. Soft.

He stayed close and smirked down at her. "What's your name?"

"Ngh. Just a second." She struggled, but pushed herself to sit upright and laughed shakily. "I don't know what happened to you, but ouch! This really stings!"

"You're crazy."

"Heh. Yeah, probably. Look at me; I don't even know you, but I took your injuries. Ngh! Just a second." The girl managed to get herself to stand and fell against the wall, blood running freshly down the side of her lips and drizzling down her neck. "Damn."

"What're you doing? You need something?" Not that he planned to help her.

"I've got it. Just stay here. Be back in a few minutes."

Dabi watched her stagger to one of the doors and watched her slip into that room. He flopped onto her couch, enjoying the comfort of the dark blue cushions. He decided that he liked her. She was really weird. She was probably a little crazy. What he liked best, though, was the way she looked at him. Like she knew him, like she liked him.

There was a clattering sound in the bathroom, followed by a yelp. He crossed the little room to the door and had it open in a few seconds. She had stripped off her sweater and was now wearing just a thin black tank top. She seemed to be in the middle of attempting to patch up the wound on her ribs. However, several things had fallen from the shelf in the bathroom and she was sitting on the floor among rolls of bandage and blood-stained towels.

Shift P.O.V

Shaking her head, she tried to laugh it off, but everything hurt. She had not realized just how serious his wounds had been when she took them from him. Not that such knowledge would have stopped her. If anything, she probably would have taken his wounds sooner if she knew.

"What're you doing? You're a mess," he taunted.

Her cheeks felt hot suddenly and she ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I know, right?" she attempted to joke. She grabbed the bandage roll she had been trying to apply to her chest wound and felt her heart skip a beat when his hand moved to take it from her. She had failed to even notice him enter the room.

"Give it to me. I'll take care of it. Just don't complain if I wrap it too tight."

She tried to hold still as he began wrapping her chest, putting layer upon layer of gauze over the laceration on her ribs. This is crazy! I don't even know his name. I guess he doesn't know mine, either.

"I'm Sayuri. What's your name?" She tensed as he finished, tying off the bandage. The young woman was about to take the roll from him to take care of the cuts on her arms, but he gripped her right wrist and began winding the gauze along her forearm.

"I go by Dabi."

Sayuri snickered. "What? Like, as in cremation?"

He leaned down, his intense turquoise eyes staring down into her lilac ones. "What's so funny? You don't like my name?" There was an edge to his tone as he drew a little bit closer.

"It's edgy," she replied with a smirk. "Pretty cool. So your quirk is probably some kind of fire thing, right?"

Dabi blinked and leaned back again to resume his task. "What's your quirk?"

"I can take people's injuries and either give them to myself or force them onto someone else. When I take an injury, it heals the other person, but they won't gain back any blood they lost. It only works with fresh injuries though," Sayuri explained. She lifted her freshly bandaged arm and smiled. "And you?"

He seemed pleased and let himself half-grin. "My flames can burn a lot of stuff to ashes really fast because they're so hot. It's pretty cool, but that injury thing you've got sounds useful."

"Ngh. Yeah, it is." Sayuri waited for him to finish wrapping her other arm before pushing herself to stand. She stretched her arms over her head, feeling her back pop a little. "Hungry?"

"What? Seriously?"

"Yeah. Seriously. I got some food earlier for my Christmas dinner, but I've got a lot." She was still feeling pretty weak, but at least the blood loss had stopped now. I didn't think it'd hurt so much, she thought as she bit her lip. Remembering how her flesh had torn open so deeply, her stomach turned.

There were no regrets from helping him, though. She enjoyed his company, even if he was kind of unsettling. He got a little too close at times. Sitting extremely close to her while he wrapped her wounds. Standing only a foot away while she started making tea in the kitchen. It was a little unsettling, but at the same she enjoyed the heat radiating off of him. The smug, but kind of cute way that he smirked.

"So what'd you get?"

Sayuri opened the fridge and drew out a bucket of fried chicken she had purchase earlier that day. "I've got some beer, too."

He raised an eyebrow, looking from the bucket to the girl's face. "Seriously? That's…pretty lame. I thought girls liked baking stuff for Christmas."

"What's wrong with fried chicken? It's a tradition for me." She frowned and put the best pieces on a plate for herself while giving him the less desirable pieces. "So? What do you usually do for Christmas?"

"This is a pretty sad tradition. What? Do you sit here and watch Christmas specials by yourself, too?" he taunted.

She bit her lip and bowed her head, pale hair falling around her face. "So? There's nothing wrong with that, is there? Why should I have to spend the night with someone?"

For the past seven years, Sayuri had a tradition when it came to Christmas day. She would get her friend Fuyumi a small gift and deliver it to her during the day. The two usually went for coffee around mid-morning and they would catch up on their lives since they were both usually pretty busy. Then she would get her fried chicken, a small Christmas cake from a bakery, and she would settle in her apartment until two days after Christmas. It had been like this every year since her parents disowned her.

Christmas was a time to be around others. Lovers. Friends. Family. The only person she really felt close to was her best friend Fuyumi. This was perfectly fine with her, though. Boyfriends came and went. Family faded away. Fuyumi was always there. Always ready to make her feel better.

"I doubt you'd understand." She turned to give him his plate and found the young man's intense turquoise eyes narrowed upon her curiously. "What?"

"Why do think I'm still here? You think I've got anything better to do?" Dabi lifted a hand, his thumb skimming along a scrape on her cheek. Not at all in a harsh rub; more like a soothing caress. He heard her breathing hitch and smirked.

The cold chicken was eaten in the kitchen at the small table. Sayuri felt herself starting to feel better again when he spoke. He was complaining about the chicken not being seasoned enough, but the way he talked made it sound more like a joke. She had to be careful about chewing because she nearly choked once or twice due to laughing.

"So what happened to you? When I found you in that alley, you looked like someone tried to carve you up."

Dabi smirked and ran his fingers through his scruffy black hair. "Try not to get so excited. You look like a sadist." He sighed and leaned against the fridge as she washed their plates. "It doesn't matter what happened," he muttered, his cockiness apparently fading.

Shift P.O.V

His eyes opened slowly and he blinked, staring at the Christmas movie playing on the television. Dabi felt weight on top of him. Not something exceptionally heavy, but noticeable. He started to wake up more and more, realizing what sort of position he was in.

Sayuri had offered to let him stay long enough to watch one Christmas movie with her. That had been three hours ago. Now Dabi was lying on his back on her couch; his left leg hanging over the edge, left arm wrapped around her waist, and his right arm crossed behind his head as a makeshift pillow. He stared down at the pale-haired young woman sleeping on top of him and he smirked.

Her head was resting on his chest and one hand was gripping the front of his shirt loosely. Her legs were to either side of his right leg and her body was pressed against his. Sayuri's breathing was soft and warm, gently brushing over his chest where his shirt failed to completely cover his skin.

The villain's hand lifted from her lower back and ran through her hair, pushing it away from her face. She was crazy. She had to be. After all, she was spending Christmas night with a villain. She had saved his life, let him invade her space and spend Christmas with her. What sane person would do that for a dangerous stranger?

She was cute, though. He liked the innocent, almost naïve way that she acted half the time. He also like the defensive, sarcastic side of her that had come out that night. Dabi continued to run his fingers through her hair, listening to the gentle breathing of the sleeping girl.

I'm not leaving you alone now, he thought as his smirk grew. You let me in and now I'm not going anywhere. I like it here. But more than that…His eyes closed as he turned them so she was on her back beneath him.

Sayuri's lilac eyes slid open and she looked up at the villain groggily for a moment before her face was flooded with a pink hue. "Dabi? What-?"

His knee slid up along her inner thighs, pressing close against her as he brought his face down to the side of her neck. "I like you. So I'm going to keep you." One hand slid beneath the hem of her sweater, resting on her hip, as his other hand held her chin in place. "Think you can handle me?"